Wick device for cigar and other lighters



March 13, 1928. 1,662,058

s. A. HARGRAFT WICK DEVICE FOR CIGAR AND OTHER LIGHTERS Filed Feb. 4.1927 I N V EN TOR. 87m R7 A. A44 rem/1P7,

Patented Mar. 13, 1 928.

UNITED STATES STUART A. HARGRAFT, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

wrcx nnvrcn son CIGAR AND ornna LIGHTEBS.

Application filed February 4, 1921. Seria11i'0.'185,861.

My present invention, in its broad aspect,

has reference to improvements in cigar,

lig ting devices which is designed to accom plish the following andother equally important ends; first, to eliminate the neces- 10 sity ofthreading or training a free-wick through a body of absorbent materialor filler such as is ordinarily provided in a pocket lighter to retainthe fuel when it is desired to replace, adjust or otherwise manipulatethe wick; second, the wick may be disposed to extend to a point adjacentthe bottom of a lighter without resorting to the use of tools, orwithout removing the filler; third, the wick is exposed to the fuel inthe filler of alighter throughout substantially its entire length, andextends to a point adjacent the bottom of the lighter where greateraccumulation of free fuel ordinarily exists; fourth, adjustment of mywick is facilitated and rendered more accurate since the wick itselfdoes not come into contact with the resisting and uneven and bindingsurface of the filler; fifth, a greater length of wick is capable ofbeing carried thereby reducing the number of necessary wickreplacements, and; sixth, my wick is carried and operable in an improvedwick container which freely admits the fuel, while shielding the wick,and which is quickly removable and otherwise advantageously formed andconstructed to facilitate practical application of my lighting device tomany different forms of conventional pocket lighters.

My wick container, per se, is formed of but two parts, a head and anelongated, perforated, hollowand cylindrical container open at both endsand connected at one end with the head. The head is dished out at thetop to-trap sparks from a flint and prevent spilling of the fuel, andalso to partially shield the wick which extends through the bottom ofthe dished depression from its position inthe container. A slot is alsoprovided to receive a screwdriver to facilitate removal of my device,and this is sup plemented by the provision of hexagonal flanges lendingto the attractive appearance of the head and providing a finger grip andwrench grip also for facilitating removal. The wick, per se, is doublefolded with both ends located adjacent the head, and the bend ordinarilyat the bottom of the container when the wick is of full length; but oneend is exposed through the head, and the wick is fed out from that end,the body of the wick being drawn up in the container one-half of thelength of wick pulled out of the head. It will therefore be seen thatthe wick capacity of my device is double the wick capacity of thelighters usually found on the market.

Other and equally important objects and advantages will become apparentas the description of my device proceeds, but while I have in thepresent instance defined for the sake of illustration a certain specificform, it will be understood that I do not desire thereby to limitmyselfexcept as may be indicated by the scope of the claim appended hereuntoand forming a part of this specification.

In the drawings wherein is illustrated an embodiment of my inventionFigure 1 is a section through a conventional form of lighter and showsthe details and application of my wick device thereto,

Figure 2 is a detail view of my wick device per se, 7

Figure 3 is a top end view of my wick device, and

Figure 4 is a section taken on the line 4-4 of Figure 2.

In the drawings wherein like characters of reference are used todesignate like or similar parts throughout the several views The numeral(1.) designates the hollow body of a conventional form of pocket cigaror cigarette lighter which is used as a receptacle for fuel; such fuelbeing taken up by the filler of absorbent material (2) which is usuallyof cotton or the like. .The top (3.) v

of the body (1) has mounted thereon the usual rotary flint shown indotted lines at (4), and in the present instance is provided with a boss(5) through which extends a screwthreaded opening (6).

Extending through the opening (6) is my wick device generally designatedby (7), and which has a hollow, cylindrical, elongated container or stem(8) extending from the top almost to the bottom of the body (1). Thecontainer or stem (8) is open at both ends and the top end thereof isfixed either by soldering if permanent attachment is desired, or byscrewthreaded connections (not shown if temporary attachment is desiredinto-t e cylindrical base (9) of the head (10) The base (9) is screwtireaded for retention in the opening (6) of the boss (5), and theexposed portion (11) of the head is is provided with spaced flanges (12)each having a hexagonal edge configuration to afford an artisticappearance and to provide a finger or wrench grip for detaching mydevice from the body (1). The bottom flange serves also as a stop forfixing the position of the head in the boss. The top of thehcad isformed with a cupped depression (1 3), and is slotted as at (14) toreceive a screwdriver. The wick channel (15) is approximately thediameter of the wick to be used and extends through the head into thebottom of the cupped depression, and is gradually enlarged downwardly asat (17) to meet the inner wall of the container (8 in flush abutment asshown at (18). The

Y cupped depression serves several purposes;

to trap sparks from the flint (4) to prevent overflow of the, fuel, andto shield the wick, designated by (19). My wick (19) is of the cordvariety,but it may be a flat wick, or any other type of wick, but in mypresent adaptation it is doubled at a point adjacent the medial point inits length, and one end (20) projects through the head to receive thelight, while the other end (21) lies in the enlarged portion (17) of thechannel (15). The bend (22) of the wick is located (when the wick is ofnormal length) at the bottom of the container (8). In feeding the wick,

the end (20) is drawn out of the head, and the body of the wick will bedrawn up in the container about-onehalf of the distance represented bythe length of wick drawn out. The wick is thus fed out of the head untilit is entirely used up, and it is thus apparent that my device affordsabout twice the amount of wick usually provided in pocket lighters andthe like.

The container is provided throughout its length with rows of alternatingslots and holes, or all slots or all holes, desi ated at (23) to permitentrance of the fue into the container to be taken up by the wick.

While it is believed that the o eration and advantages of my device wille apparent from the foregoing, attention is especially directed to thefact that it is adaptable for use with many conventional types oflighters, and that its construction lends to economical manufacture.

\Vhile in the foregoing there has been illustrated in the drawings anddescribed in the specification such combination and arrangement ofelements as constitute the preferred embodiments of my invention. it isnevertheless desired to em .hasize the fact that interpretation of theinvention should only be conclusive when made in the light of thesubjoined claim.

I claim A device of the character described comprising a wick, a hollowc lindrical container for the wick, a head or so portin the containerand carried on one en thereo said head formed with an openingcommunicating with the interior of the container and the walls of theopening being flush with the interior wall of the container to provide asmooth riding surface for the wick, said opening being graduallyrestricted toward the month thereof to substantially the size of thewick, the body of the wick being doubled upon itself and enclosed withinthe container and head with one end projecting out of the o ening in thehead, the remaining end of t e wick lying at all times within therestricted portion of the opening in the head, which restricted portionconstitutes an obstruction preventing withdrawal of said end of the wickwhen the projected end of the wick is fed out of the container.

In testimony whereof, I aflix my signature hereunto.

STUART A. HARGRAFT.

